*POP!*
The sound of the champagne bottles being opened was remarkably loud amongst the crowd of nobles in the spacious ballroom. The spindly golden room was illuminated by golden hues, emitting from the lamps and the elegant grand chandelier in the middle. Dancing, chatting, gossiping, all the social conducts of a high society were being boldly carried out tonight and nothing, nothing at all could put a stop to all of this except for the arrival of the crown prince himself. The lad of twenty and five, appeared through the huge gates of the ballroom, and from head to toe you could easily tell he was no common being. His presence made every noble in the room fall silent and be captivated by his beauty. It was as if he came right out of a fairytale. With his golden locks that complimented his pale skin so beautifully and vibrant eyes that flecked with every shade of red, he certainly looked ethereal.
"Welcome! Welcome! I thank you all on my behalf for attending this ball on such a beautiful night! As you all may know, this was held for my dearest son Kieran, who has just came back from the War" The duke eyed his son in an adoring way before returning back to the guests. "Today he has proved that gender holds no role in leadership! This kingdom has so far been only led and ruled by women so we had little hopes from Kieran but look at him! He has proven us wrong and came back like a brave soldier! Thus I-"
"Duke Cistonia…"
The Duke flinched once he heard his name coming out from the Queen's mouth and with a speck of hesitance, moved his head in her direction.
"Y-Yes…Your Majesty?...?
"I think the people have heard enough. Let Kieran make the toast now…" Magnolia snuck a little glare towards him sharply as she said those words, hoping to shut him up once and for all.
"Yes….Your Majesty…." With a sulky expression plastered on the Duke's face, he handed his son the glass of champagne.
The prince couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange of words between his grandmother and his father, and so with an infectious grin he held up the glass and exclaimed in a fair voice.
"Long live Vandleade!"
Upon hearing the Prince's voice accompanied with his heat throbbing smile, everyone was left in awe. Some girls were even heard fainting behind the crowd of nobles and after some seconds of silence, a loud reaction was heard from everyone. They all chanted "long live Vandleade" along with holding up their glasses of champagne. The Queen, who was observing all of this, smiled briefly at her grandson and gave him a little pat on his shoulder.
"You have a huge supporting, Kieran. Make sure to never disappoint them..."
Kieran responded with a curt nod but there was something that caught his eye in the corner, which caused him to get a little distracted. It was his sister, Princess Julia, shooting him death glares. Kieran couldn't help but amuse himself over her reaction and so he flashed her a sarcastic smile which led her to furrow her eyebrows and call out to the Duke.
"Father look! Kieran is mocking me! Is that a way to treat your sister…?"
But the Duke was far too busy indulging in the activities of the ball that he paid no attention to the princess at all. While all of this commenced, two carriages were heard being parked just outside the gates of the palace and out of the carriage came out, Flavia De Luca, her brother, mother and father. It seemed that the main members of the De Luca family were a bit late to the event compared to the rest of their family who was already inside awaiting their arrival with anxious anxiety. The culprit who got them late was none other than…Devitt. The person who was more desperate than the others to reach early…
"Oh Devitt! If only you had not made a fuss about your coat before our departure! We would've been here before everyone else! How badly will we be mocked by the Gentileschis. Every relative of theirs, all of them will be looking upon us as objects of foolery!" Lady De Luca stepped out of the carriage hurriedly, as the servant rushed to hold the long ends of her dress.
"Well how was I supposed to know that a pigeon would appear and poop on my coat while I was waiting outside?? And you know that the coat was a gift from a designer of italia! I had nothing like it in my whole wardrobe! Obviously it would take time for me to find a suitable alternative" The male grunted as he snuck a brief glance at his coat just to make sure of something.
Flavia, who was playing the role of an audience, stared at the mother-son duo with an observant eye. Who would've known that the sophisticated De Luca's would have such silly moments amongst each other? Listening to them bicker; she was caught completely unguarded when a group of guards approached them. They were late, and it seemed the guards looked annoyed…could it be they were going to be denied access? The girl let out a soft sigh, since being denied access inside the palace meant she will have to endure another carriage ride back home. Her motion sickness kicked in even just imagining it.
"George! Open the doors! It's the De Luca family!" The guard declared and rushed to assist the other guard opening the huge doors.
"Eh…?" Flavia was dumbfounded by this and she turned back to look at her family members who were assertively taking slow steps towards the doors that were being unlocked. "High society privileges huh…" The girl mumbled to herself.
The four family members walked inside the palace and were escorted into the ballroom, from where Flavia was mesmerized by the atmosphere of the room. It was so remarkably decorated, with every person present in it dressed extremely fancy and expensively. This was Flavia's first taste of high society ever since she was brought into this world, and it had only been two days since she had reincarnated. Experiencing it in real life was so much better than reading descriptions about it in novels or seeing it in pictures. All of it felt so unreal to Flavia and for some minutes she just stood in the middle of the room, gazing upon every single detail.
"Holy…moly…"
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Somewhere in another corner, Eliana was being mesmerized by something as well, but it wasn't the ballroom or the pleasantries of the ball. It was actually the food being served. She was delightfully munching on some detectable salad, dappled with olive oil and garnished with tiny olives, along with a tiny block of feta cheese on the side of her plate. Of course, she knew nothing about the dish itself, just that the taste of it was making her taste buds go euphoric. Luckily, her mother was able to spot her in the corner unlike everybody else.
"Eliana! Oh my lord! You have been present here the whole time? I was searching for you everywhere and- and- here you are, wolfing down a salad!"
"I can't help it mother! It's just so good! I never knew they serve this good food at balls!.." Eliana said, while gobbling down more of the scrumptious sides provided with the dishes.
"Stop eating at once! Look there, the prince is alone! Which means now is your chance to dance with him, and only you should avail that opportunity because you're his fiancé.."
"And Lady Flavia…" Eliana took another bite of the salad, and made a buoyant expression. "Mmm!"
"It doesn't matter right now! That Flavia girl is nowhere to be seen or you know she would've been all up on his face! This is your chance. Don't make me repeat it Eliana!" She shot a glare at her daughter expecting a reply but soon noticed the Duke calling out to her from afar. "Excuse me dear, someone seems to be asking for me. When I come back, I don't want to see you here devouring dishes, I want to see you there, dancing with the prince. Got that?" The Lady walked away in a proud manner, leaving her daughter to make a choice.
Eliana gazed upon the woman who was departing from her and exhaled softly. She really wished to avail herself into her first ball but her mother and family members were being a killjoy. Do this or do that. All of it was tiring and the girl was starting to feel fatigued from it. She dropped her plate on the table and her body loosened itself as she leaned on a pillar while glancing around the place.
"Ah~ Balls~ Such festive and joyous attempt at a gathering, but highly dejecting and lonesome as well… Despite the lively atmosphere it still carries the aura of a midnight romance~ won't you agree, Lady Eliana Gentileschi?"
Eliana jumped at her name being called out and she promptly switched sides to see the person who called her name, only to be left a bit muddled. She stared at the person before her in timid bewilderment. It was a young man, who bore a mysterious countenance and the fact that he had silvery white hair did add to his peculiar air as well. He had bright gray eyes and a lonesome look on his face. He noticed Eliana staring at him and a slick smirk spread, dimpling his cheeks in a way that Eliana found both cute and concerning.
"I don't mean to be rude…but do I know you?" Eliana said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Do you?~ Or does anyone at all know me? I'd say no. You don't know me…No one does~ But there is a alias I go by quite frequently around here. It's Oran Renaldian. Ring a bell, Miss Eliana?"
Eliana had not even a single idea about what this person was going on about. To her he seemed to be a poetic and extremely dramatic theatre geek, who liked to tease others for the sake of his own entertainment. So on that basis, she decided to be straightforward and open with him.
"No, it does not ring a bell at all…"
"Ah~ A forgetful soul, I see. It's alright…we all have been forgetful once in our lives…sometimes forgetting things that hold extreme importance to us…"
"Wha- I'm sorry but what are you even trying to say? (I'm losing brain cells seriously)"
"So you really don't remember me, Miss Eliana?~ I acknowledge the fact that we haven't been introduced formally yet but we have met once or twice in formal gatherings, no?~ A little exchange of glances was common amongst us.."
Then it struck to Eliana that she may not know him, but the real Eliana certainly may have known him some way or the other and considering how these nobles have various events and gatherings, she would've definitely met him in one of them.
"A-Ah…yes…I remember now I think. Yoran Ronaldian, rightttt?" Eliana chuckled nervously, playing along with young man.
"It's actually Oran Renaldian…" He said, with a straight face, which looked highly unamused as if he was used to this.
"Slip of the tongue haha!"
"Of course, a slip of the tongue… Say, shouldn't you be dancing with the prince since he is your fiancé? I see everyone except his own two fiancés dancing with him. Really odd, if you ask me…"
"Uh, should I be? I mean, there is no law that says a fiancé should most definitely dance with her fiancé, or she'll get beheaded or something, right?.." Eliana inquired nervously, just in case there was a law in this world such as that.
"Not really, but he just came back from a deadly war after so many years. It would make more sense if you did dance rather than not dancing at all. How about go up to him and ask?"
"How about you mind your own business?"
"What-"
"Oh nothing! Yeah uh, I'll go dance with him…(I feel like he will pester me to death)"
"That's the spirit~ You know, when I was a kid, I was very fond of balls…mainly because I had a special someone at that time that I wished to dance with- Huh- where did she go?"
Amongst the crowd of nobles, Eliana escaped through all the bodies. She made her way to the garden entrance and just as she was about to reach it, she felt a firm and tight grasp on her shoulder.
"Eeek!" Eliana flinched at the contact and turned around to see her own mother. The woman came across as extremely menacing and seemed as if she will explode with anger.
"Elianaaaa, I think I told you to do something…"
"Heh…heh…"
"Young lady, if you don't follow the crown prince into the room he's going inside right now, and ask him to dance. I will make sure this will be the last ball you have ever attended!" The woman said, as her gaze landed upon the crown prince who was heading towards a room.
Eliana sulked and hung her head loosely for a second before straightening her posture once again. If this is what her mother and everyone else demanded from her, she will do it. Just so she can peacefully enjoy the ball later on, without having people come up to her every two minutes.
"Alright fine! I'll ask the prince to dance!.."
The girl finally gave in to the pestering and forcing, even though she had no intention to dance with the prince at all. Truth be told, she wasn't even interested in marrying him. Eliana was just playing along with everyone's antics and when the playtime would be over, she would eventually hand over the prince to Flavia on a silver tray. This was her plan from the start…however…it didn't look like it would be easy for her plan to unfold at all. This rivalry between the two families was no joke...